Mexico boosts support for its migrants in the U.S. after Trump win

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

A Mexican migrant talks to a family member through the border fence between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, United States, after a bi-national Mass in support of migrants in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, February 15, 2016.Jose Luis Gonzalez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's foreign ministry announced fresh steps on Wednesday to provide support to Mexican citizens living in the United States following the victory in last week's U.S. presidential election by Donald Trump, who has promised to crack down on immigrants in the country illegally.

The ministry said it was acting to help Mexicans avoid fraud and abuses in the United States. It said it would expand the availability of mobile consulate services to reach more migrants in their communities, establish a 24-hour telephone line for questions about immigration, and provide more appointments for migrants to get passports, birth certificates and consular identification cards.

The ministry also said Mexico will "strengthen dialogue" with U.S. state and local authorities to protect its citizens, and added that migrants in the United States should "avoid any conflict situation" and stay out of trouble with the law.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said in an interview with the CBS program "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday that his administration would focus on deporting immigrants with criminal records. Trump said during the campaign he would deport the estimated 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally.

During the campaign, Trump also promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border with Mexico paying for it, accused Mexico of sending rapists and drug runners into the United States and threatened to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Trump's surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 has shaken Mexico, pushing the beleaguered peso to record lows and forcing the government into crisis mode as it seeks to protect bilateral trade.

Reporting by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Will Dunham